Barrow Walking Festival was a success
North West Evening Mail, 2 August 2011
A WALKING festival drew thousands to Furness.
Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock launched the five-week Furness Walking Festival at the start of July.
The programme included events aimed at children, with a very popular ‘owl prowl', bat walk and a walk including beach combing.
Barrow's mayor, Councillor John Murphy, led walks over to Piel Island as part of the festival.
Cllr Murphy said: "Despite some atrocious weather, once again the Furness countryside attracted many people to the festival.
"I had around 150 people on each of the walks to Piel Island and the owl walk attracted around 450. It was very over-subscribed.
"The walks brought visitors from all over Europe down from the Lakes to Furness.
"We must have had thousands of participants.
"The good weather always attracts people and equally, the bad weather can put people off.
"All the walks went along quite nicely.
"It was good to see people slipping and sliding in the mud. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries.
"I am looking forward to doing it again next year. I just hope the funding continues and we can carry on the success of the festival.
"Funding is always difficult nowadays, but I would like to see the festival carry on.”
The festival was run by Barrow Borough Council in partnership with other organisations including the National Trust and Cumbria Wildlife Trust.
NHS Cumbria said: "It was fantastic to see the huge numbers of people who took part in this weekend's walking festival and hopefully every year it encourages more people to be a little bit more active and improve their health as a result.
"Walking regularly can reduce the amount of fat in our body and lessen the risk of life-threatening diseases like cancer, type-2 diabetes and heart disease.
"Walking has long been overlooked as a form of exercise to help you lose weight and keep fit.
"But this cardiovascular activity is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to improve your overall health.”